The Hepatitis E virus is widespread throughout the world and causes sporadic cases of liver disease. In industrialized countries, its transmission is zoonotic, with pigs, deer, and wild boar being major reservoirs. Humans can be infected by ingesting raw or undercooked contaminated meat products. In the Canadian province of Quebec, HEV has been detected previously in pork liver and chops. In the present study, we analyzed 83 pork liver pâtés sold in local grocery stores and 79 raw pork livers obtained from Quebec hog processors. HEV RNA was extracted and detected by RT-qPCR. HEV RNA was amplified in 29% of the pâtés and 4% of the raw pork livers. Out of all amplified PCR-positive samples, only one showed a product during electrophoresis and was sent for sequencing. The resulting sequence matched a strain belonging to genotype 3 (HEV-3). This pilot study shows that HEV is present frequently in pork liver-based products in the province of Quebec.

It is known that the transmission of different foodborne viruses can occur either via discharge of contaminated water close to the production environment or via close contact with animal feces. Cranberries are intimately associated with water throughout their production cycle, and blueberries grow close to the ground which could lead to contact with wildlife. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of human norovirus (HuNoV GI and GII), hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) in two berries produced commercially in Canada. The detection of HuNoV and HAV on RTE cranberries and of HEV on wild blueberries was evaluated using the ISO method 15216-1:2017. Only 3 of 234 cranberry samples tested positive for HuNoV GI (3.6, 7.4, 5.3 genome copies/g, respectively) and all were negative for HuNoV GII and HAV. PMA pre-treatment and sequencing confirmed the absence of potential intact HuNoV GI particles on cranberries. None of the 150 blueberry samples tested positive for HEV. Overall, the prevalence of foodborne viruses in RTE cranberries and wild blueberries harvested in Canada is low, making these products relatively safe for consumers.